Caring
by wingedauthoress14
Summary: When Levy has to cancel her training with Gajeel because of her period, she is surprised when he takes it in stride. "Shrimp, if people have a problem with a guy tryin' to make his girl's life easier, they need a reality check."


A/N: Hello, you beautiful sparkling sugar puffs! I hope you are all having a wonderful day! I really hope you all like this one...I think I did an okay job, but I did have fun writing it. Thank you for reading and/or reviewing!

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Levy woke with a groan, clutching her stomach as a painful cramp tore its way through her. She opened her eyes blearily and clutched her sheets, waiting for it to pass. How could this be happening so soon? Didn't she just get it…oh wait, that was about four weeks ago. As she counted the days, she realized with a jolt that today was her day to train with Gajeel, but as she lay there, she knew she wouldn't make it through one of his sessions. They were tough enough, and there was no way in hell she was moving today.

 _At least,_ she thought as she gingerly got out of bed and shuffled to the bathroom, _not very far._

As Levy dried off carefully after her shower, she opened the cabinet beneath the sink, finding it empty of tampons or pads.

 _Shit,_ she inwardly cursed. She knew she was forgetting something the last time she ran to the store. After hastily making a makeshift pad out of toilet paper, Levy then rummaged through her medicine drawer and, oh wow, really? She was out of painkillers too? What next?

 _No. No, no, no, no._ She groaned as her lower abdomen was hit with another cramp. She grabbed onto the sink for support as her knees buckled. This was just not her day. Maybe she'd be able to make up training with Gajeel tomorrow. Or next week. Or in a year.

Levy returned to her room and dressed quickly into her most comfortable black leggings and a flowy, yellow top, not bothering to put on a bra. Just as she was thinking of a way to tell Gajeel she wouldn't be able to make it to train today, there was a knock on her door.

Well, more of a pounding.

"C'mon, short stuff! We ain't got all day!" Gajeel said loudly, his words penetrating through the wooden door. "Let's go! We've got trainin' to do!"

She raised her eyebrows; he must've been really impatient to actually break the rules and come inside. Levy prayed Erza was already out of the building. She opened the door slowly and looked up at the iron dragon slayer.

"Gajeel, I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can make it today," she said, grasping the edge of the door as another cramp hit her. "I'm not feeling well and I need to get some medicine at the store, so…"

Gajeel raised a studded brow at her and Levy could guess as to why. She usually never skipped out on their sessions. She liked the feeling of becoming stronger physically as well as magically, plus the extra time with Gajeel was always nice. On most days, she was raring to go, so it really was an off day if she was flat-out refusing to step out of her apartment.

"Yeah, ya don't seem like you're feelin' well," Gajeel put his hand on her forehead. Levy leaned into his cool touch subconsciously. "Ya don't feel too warm, but if you're sick, you should be in bed."

"Thanks," Levy smiled up gratefully at him. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Whadya mean, Shrimp? You're not feelin' well, so I'm lookin' after ya today," Gajeel ruffled her damp hair. "Get back to bed; what do ya need from the store?"

Levy blushed. She hadn't thought of the idea that Gajeel might want to stick around with her today. As grateful as she was for his offer for company and for as long as they've been together, she still hadn't breached the awkwardness of when she got her periods. She knew it was nothing to be ashamed of, but a part of her still found it embarrassing.

"Well, I um…" she bit her lip. "I'm all out of painkillers and I need tampons and pads."

A look of comprehension dawned on Gajeel's face and Levy's face burned even more. _Oh shit,_ she thought hastily. _Can he…tell with his dragon senses that I'm…oh fuck me. What if he can smell me? Is this what those girls from the vampire novels felt like?_ Somehow, she doubted it; this was so much worse than those books made it out to be.

But if he did smell any blood, he gave no indication of it. Instead, the iron dragon slayer grinned. "Ya got it, Shrimp. I'll be back in half an hour!"

As he turned and headed out of Fairy Hills, Levy stood there dumbstruck. He…what? No awkward laughter? No looks of disgust? Not asking what pads and tampons were? She slowly closed the door and headed to bed, opening up a book she had started the night before, still marveling at his reaction. It wasn't at all what she expected, but on a day like today, it certainly was welcome.

Gajeel knew there was something off with Levy even before she opened the door. Her usual smell was taken over by a strong iron scent, and for a moment he was afraid she'd badly cut herself. But his fears were quelled when she opened the door, whole and unharmed, though still obviously hurting. He noticed how tightly her fingers gripped the door, how her smile was tired and her face was pale even though she was usually bright and cheerful first thing in the morning.

So when she told him she had her period, he wasn't terribly surprised. He once overheard Levy complaining to Bunny Girl about cramps and needing things called tampons, so he did a little research. Turns out, these period things happened to a lot of girls and they needed certain things to help cope with them.

It was with confidence that Gajeel entered the convenience store about two blocks away from Fairy Hills. He grabbed a basket and headed toward the section where they kept the feminine products, picking up a few bags of hard candy and chocolate that he knew were Levy's favorite. He stopped by the vitamin section and grabbed a bottle of painkillers and iron supplements as well. If she was losing as much iron as he guessed, it'd do her good to have some more. And maybe he'd be able to snack on them if she didn't want 'em.

It wasn't until he reached the feminine supplies section that his confidence went out the window. How in the hell were there so many options? Why the fuck were wings necessary on pads? What the hell did super and super plus mean? Gajeel glared at the wall of pink, trying to make sense of it all.

"Yo," his train of thought was interrupted as Natsu appeared next to him, holding a basket that looked similar to Gajeel's.

"Hey," Gajeel grunted, still absorbed in the multiple choices. Damnit. He should've asked Levy what kind she wanted before he left…

"Wait, you guys are here too?" Gray walked up from the other end of the aisle, his basket full of salty snacks and a box of pads.

They all looked over as Jellal joined their party, looking up at the selections of pads and tampons for a few moments before picking a few things and dropping it into his basket full of strawberry flavored candies. He acknowledged other three with a silent nod before heading back up to the front.

"Guess we know why Fairy Tail has been so crazy lately," Natsu murmured, as though he was afraid the comment would be heard from the guild hall.

Gajeel nodded, recalling vividly how the guild had been particularly…shouty and prone to tears during the past week. He finally decided to choose a box that the picture of a woman playing three sports at once. If this woman was able to play this many sports with these tampons, maybe it'd work for Levy the next time she needed to train on her period.

"Geez, never thought I'd see the Fairy Tail men so whipped! Now their girls have them doing their shopping for them?" A harsh laugh came from behind Gajeel, Natsu, and Gray. The three turned around and saw two men jeering at them. They couldn't have been much older than the three mages but their smirks made Gajeel's short temper infinitely shorter.

"Yeah, look at 'em, buying their chicks tampons! That's so gross! Why do they even know about that stuff?" The other said, a disgusted sneer on his face.

"What'd you say?" Natsu growled, his fist already bursting into flame. Ice was already appearing around Gray's feet and hands, his eyes focused in a glare on the two in front of them.

"You must be fuckin' new," Gajeel took a step toward the boys, his free hand forming into an iron fist. "Or do you not know you're makin' fun of two dragon slayers and an ice demon slayer?"

"Who cares?" The one said loudly. "You gonna beat us up 'cause we caught you buyin' lady stuff? What, they can't come get it themselves?"

"We wanted to get it for them!" Natsu countered fiercely. "If you had a girlfriend, you'd know you have to take care of her when she's not feeling okay!"

"And don't worry, we're gonna beat you up," Gray said, ice crystalizing on the handle of the basket he was holding. His free hand went to unbutton his shirt. "But not because we care about buying this stuff."

"Keep your clothes on!" Natsu yelled. "But yeah! Our girls need things like this! Maybe if you could actually get a girl, you'd understand!" Natsu yelled, shaking his flaming fist at them.

"Besides, yer gonna get beat up 'cause yer fucking annoying," Gajeel spat, advancing on them with Natsu and Gray on his heels, their magic crackling in the air. The boys backed up, now genuinely scared at the looks of fury coming from all three of the Fairy Tail men. The mages were about to jump when the shop's owner came around the aisle's corner.

"Please, not today!" The balding, bespectacled shopkeeper waved his hands wildly. "I just had the windows and ceiling fixed!"

"Then we'll take it outside," Gajeel growled, but when they turned to face the two boys, they had vanished, leaving a trail of dust behind them.

"Damn, I was looking forward to kicking their asses out of Magnolia," Natsu sighed as the flame in his hand extinguished.

"I would've kicked their asses out of Fiore," Gray said.

"Are you trying to challenge me, Ice Dick?" Natsu retorted, the flames in his hand reignited with alarming speed.

"I would be- if you were even a challenge for me, Flame Breath!" Gray's Ice Lance was already forming in his hand.

"Guys, come on!" Gajeel knocked both of their heads together so the ice and fire mages fell to the floor. "I ain't got time for this. Let's go!"

Levy wasn't sure how long she had been asleep, but she woke again with a strong cramp. She curled up in her bed, grimacing and grasping the sheets. Her only thought was on Gajeel's return, hopefully with some powerful ibuprofen.

Levy dozed for a while longer, rocking her right foot in calming motions as the pain from her cramps built. Geez, she hadn't had them this badly in a long time. Ever since she went on the pill, her periods were manageable, but maybe this month was just special.

Lucky her.

She must have fallen asleep again at some point, because the next thing she knew, Gajeel was kneeling next to her bed and brushing the hair off of her face.

"C'mon, Shrimp, time to wake up. I got medicine for ya," she heard the rattling of medicine and her eyes opened slowly.

"Thank you," she grumbled, reaching for the bottle and taking two of the pills with the water that was on her nightstand. She sat up and swallowed, waking up enough to look at three enormous bags of stuff by her bed. Her eyes went wide. "Gajeel, you didn't have to do all of this," she smiled, "you're so sweet, thank you so much."

Gajeel grinned at her. "So did I get everything ya needed?"

"And then some," Levy said, peering into the bags. She got up and picked the several boxes pads and tampons out of the bags and put them in her cupboard before taking a pad out of its box and headed to the bathroom. "I'll be right back," she told Gajeel who had made himself comfortable on her bed. Hm. He had no fear of Erza's wrath today, evidently.

With a proper pad now in place, Levy felt much better. She returned to her bedroom to find Gajeel still sitting on her bed, boots kicked off and his head against the wall. Levy took the rest of the items out of the bags and organized them on her desk. Her eyes lit up at the chocolates and her favorite hard candies, a bottle of painkillers and…iron tablets?

"What's with the iron supplements?" Levy asked curiously, holding up the bottle with interest.

"So ya don't get anemic," Gajeel answered simply, eyes still closed. After a beat of silence, he opened his eyes and looked up. Levy's face had gotten warm again and she prayed her blush wasn't _that_ noticible. "It ain't anythin' to be ashamed of, Lev. If you're bleedin' a bunch, you're bound to lose a lot of iron. And I'm the expert in iron, in case you forgot, so I know what I'm talkin' about," he grinned at her and she felt more at ease.

Levy laughed, embarrassment forgotten. "Oh no, wouldn't want to argue you on that," she smiled and shook one tablet out of the bottle and gulped it and a painkiller down with some water. "I guess that's why I get so tired when I get my period."

"That'd do it," he said, patting the space beside him on the bed. "Come on and get back into bed. I'll get this thing warmed up," Levy took a bag of the chocolate candies and sat beside him, her mind buzzing. How on earth was he so knowledgeable about stuff like this? It wasn't like he'd ever lived with girls or had sisters or anything…

"Can I ask you something?" Levy asked, popping several of the candies into her mouth and offering him some.

"Shoot," Gajeel said, taking a few of the chocolates.

"How do you know so much about periods?" Levy asked. "I mean…you didn't grow up with girls as far as I know, and I'm willing to bet you learned more about dragons and iron magic than girls when you grew up with Metalicana."

Gajeel grinned at her. "You think you're the only one who can research, Shrimp?" At her look of amazement, he gave his signature laugh before becoming more serious. "It's not like I cared about this stuff before, but it's important. You're my teammate and my girlfriend, and this shit happens to you once a month. Least I can do is make it tolerable for ya."

"So…you weren't…embarrassed at having to go out and get me all those tampons and chocolate and everything?" Levy asked, her voice small, as though she were afraid that he actually was.

Gajeel rolled his eyes. "Shrimp, if people have a problem with a guy tryin' to make his girl's life easier, they need a reality check."

Levy nodded in agreement. "Well…thank you. For everything. I really appreciate you doing all of this for me," she sat next to him and kissed him on the cheek.

Gajeel responded by giving her a kiss on the crown of her head. "Though you know you're gonna have to work twice as hard at training next week."

"Never thought I wouldn't," Levy replied wryly, opening her book back up and snuggling close to her iron dragon slayer who stayed by her side for the rest of the day.

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A/N: So, I really think it's important to introduce the idea that guys should be supportive and caring for their significant others when they have their periods. As a lot of us are well aware, they are quite unpleasant and super not fun, but it makes it even worse when people who don't get them are grossed out by them, or even think that people who do get them are "unclean" or whatever. It was also kind of fun to write Gajeel in that kind of role- where he's protective and caring, and kind of out of his element, but ultimately trying his best to make Levy feel okay.

Again, thank you for reading and/or reviewing! I hope you all liked this one!


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